Guitar Hero Live developer suffers layoffs as part of Activision restructure

Activision have laid off a bunch of staff members according to Kotaku, stating that Guitar Hero Live developer Freestyle Games were mostly impacted. No official announcements have been made as of yet.“We are refocusing to better align with Activision’s long-term priorities because, as always, our strategy evolves to keep us ahead of a rapidly-changing industry,” a company spokesperson told Kotaku. Kotaku’s Patrick Klepak wrote “Activision has been hit with layoffs, I’m told. FreeStyle Games, creators ofGuitar Hero Live, were greatly impacted.”

Releasing in October of last year, Guitar Hero Live made a comeback alongside Harmonix’ Rock Band 4. Unlike Rock Band, Guitar Hero Live changed up its gameplay format, offering a six button guitar that differed in style to previous titles from both franchises. It reviewed well, and included an interesting take on live music performance.

Back in November, Gamespot reported that Guitar Hero Live’s sales after its first week were already up compared to the previous two releases in the series, namely Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock and Guitar Hero 5. However, according to CNBC, “Activision-Blizzard broke an incredible streak Thursday when it reported its disappointing fiscal fourth-quarter results. For the first time in 10 years, it missed its revenue guidance, said Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities.